Dani Kallis (she/her)

I know that life can be complicated, confusing, and overwhelming. The challenges and difficulties we have faced in our life make up the different parts of who we are. I became a therapist because I realized how important it is to find support for everything we carry within us. When I worked at an art therapy office, located inside an art gallery, I learned how different forms of communicating help people realize or sort out their feelings and find solutions. Imagination and creativity are a powerful part of the healing process. I found that being surrounded by colors, creativity, and design in the therapy space encourages people to open bottled-up emotions. I believe that by exploring holistic and artistic outlets for our feelings, whether that be art, astrology, and greater movements of the universe, over time, we can gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and heal the heavier wounds we carry.

I believe that there are ways to express the things we don’t have words for. My life experiences have taught me how art gives us an additional place within talk therapy to express worries, pain, fears, or anything that feels stuck inside. I believe that our pain is the place where art begins and that any type or form of art media can be a container to hold the hurt for us as we heal. In my lifelong journey toward cultural humility, as a clinical art therapist intern, I am committed to providing a safe, stable space for poly-am affirmation, kink positivity, and Queer folks to exist, rest and offload without the need for explanation.